Just curious for answers

[Mike Benn]

I was just diagnosed last year for Hep C. I just found out yesterday that my insurance approved my treatment. What do I do now any advice will be greatly appreciated.

[KimInTheForest]

Hi Mike. Welcome to the forums! How lucky you are that you got approved easily. So many don't.

Which treatment will you be on? There are several now. And what genotype are you?

I am sure people here will give you tips and advice once we know those things. Different treatments can involve different possible side effects and other considerations.

cheers,
kim

[Mike Benn]

I'll be on Harvoni, I'm on the phone now getting shipment set up. I guess I was very lucky for approval.

[Mike Benn]

These are the readings from last test before approval.
HCV RNA, PCR Quant.  8990000
HCV RNA, PCR Quant. Log 6.95

[Mike Benn]

My genotype was 1

[Mike Benn]

Sorry I had to lookup info on my medical I'm pretty new to this

[gnatcatcher]

Welcome, Mike. As you can see from my signature file, I had a viral load (VL) of ~9 million at one time, too. Harvoni works wonders -- look at the drops in my VL, ALT, and AST!

What happens now is you pick a time to take the Harvoni -- whatever time is easiest for you to be consistent from day to day. It doesn't matter whether you take it with or without food. Because the manufacturer wants you to keep the pills in the original bottle, it helps to write in a log when you take each pill. If you have any side effects, note them in the log, too, so you can tell your medical provider. Drink lots of fluids, particularly water. Most people (myself included) have a very easy time on treatment and find that the 84 days go by very quickly.

If you picked an evening time and find that Harvoni gives you too much extra energy to be able to fall asleep, or if you picked an early time and find that Harvoni fatigues you, you'll be able to adjust your time (consult your medical provider).

Your medical provider will want you to take lab tests periodically. Different doctors have different ideas about when and how often. Harvoni works very quickly to kill off the HCV, and the lab results will give you proof of that.

Gnatty

[KimInTheForest]

Great that you are all set to go with harvoni, Mike. Did they set you up for 8 weeks or 12?

Like Gnatty says, drink plenty of water. That will help with any side effects you may have. And you may have none at all on Harvoni, except for the good side effect of the 'Harvoni High', which some of us get. .

kim

[Lynn K]

Hi Mike and welcome

I am going to guess you are getting 12 weeks as your viral load is over 6 million. But not to worry higher viral loads don't seem to matter fro cure and do not relate to whether or not you have liver damage. Most of us also look at our liver function tests AST and ALT which for most are slightly above normal range. Bur once we start treatment they generally drop into normal showing your viral load is being reduced.

ALT and AST levels also don't indicate if you have liver damage only that your liver is being slightly injured at the moment.

For most of us treatment was not too difficult as was said for most just some mild headaches.

Congrats on getting approved good luck on treatment and if you have any questions ask away we are glad to try to help

Lynn